This invention is directed to a bearing assembly of the type which is equipped with a locking collar for mounting on a rotatable shaft. Previous bearing assemblies utilizing locking collars have generated excess noise and vibration or have marred the shaft on which they are installed. In attempts to solve these problems, various approaches have been taken. One approach is to form slotted fingers, or axial extensions, leading from the inner race member of the bearing assembly. These fingers are notched inwardly of their outer ends to form raised end portions on the fingers. The locking collar engages the raised end portions of the fingers thus facilitating bending of the fingers against the shaft when the locking collar is installed and tightened. A disadvantage of this prior construction was the need to machine notches in the fingers which could weaken the fingers to the extent that the fingers would break because of excessive tightening.
Another bearing assembly in the prior art uses unnotched fingers with a locking collar formed with a larger and a smaller internal diameter. The larger internal diameter is positioned over the unnotched fingers but does not contact the fingers while the smaller internal diameter of the locking collar engages the outer ends of the fingers to force the outer ends of the fingers against the shaft when the locking ring is screw tightened. However, this locking collar is susceptible to being incorrectly installed with a reverse orientation on the fingers with the smaller inner diameter positioned at the bases of the fingers where it applies an undesired shear force to the bases of the fingers.